The New England region of the U.S.-Canada border has seen a staggering increase in the number of immigrants caught attempting to enter the United States illegally, with people from 85 countries apprehended since last fall.

Border Patrol agents in the New Hampshire, Vermont, and eastern upstate New York region intercepted more illegal immigrants in fiscal 2023 than in the previous 11 years combined, but in just the first eight months of 2024, arrests have already surpassed last year’s record, according to Robert Garcia, chief patrol agent of the Swanton Sector in New England.